A LO N G H I STO RY O F CAN C E R After graduating from the University of Nebraska Medical Center College of Dentistry, Tom moved to Colorado in the 1960’s to open his own practice. “I wanted to be in the mountains,” Tom says. “Back then I’d go up to Longs Peak for the hell of it. I had $5,000 saved so I set up an office in Golden, but I didn’t have any patients.” As luck would have it, the Colorado School of Mines was a few blocks away. With no patients and a lot of free time, Tom started playing handball with the professors. Within a few months, he’d “recruited” his first patients. By 1998, more than 30 years later, Tom knew it was time to retire. He was diagnosed with prostate cancer. Managing treatment and his practice wasn’t an option. Tom sold his practice and focused on beating cancer. After a radical pros tatectomy and radiation, he was a first-time cancer survivor. Seven years later cancer returned. This time he was diagnosed with squamous cell cancer at the base of the tongue. Large doses of chemotherapy and radiation were needed. Tom was fed strictly through a feeding tube and lost more than 10 pounds on his already small frame. Yet again, he survived. Doctors caught the cancer early.
C OURT E SY OF T OM E VANS
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t the end of 2012, Dr. Tom Evans was hauling wood for a new deck up the mountain behind his house in Genesee— a climb he’d done almost every day since 1997—when his body told him to stop. He was fatigued and short of breath. “I was doing fine—walking a few miles every day and hunting,” Tom says. “One day I couldn’t walk up the mountain to save my soul. I was exhausted. I knew something was wrong.” At 75, Tom knows his body. He’s spent his life being active— biking up Lookout Mountain, hunting around the world, playing handball at the Colorado School of Mines, and farming in Nebraska. He’s no stranger to knee surgeries; he’s had four. One of his ankles has been fused. And he’s already heard the words “you have cancer” three times. While many would shrug off not making the climb to being out of shape, Tom was far from it. He knew it meant trouble. He just didn’t expect cancer. Not again. After a trip to his primary care physician and a bone marrow biopsy, the news was bleak. Tom had acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), a fast-growing cancer impacting a type of white blood cell called lymphocytes, which help the body fight infections. When lymphocytes become cancerous they grow quickly and crowd out the bone marrow, preventing it from making normal red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets. Tom was not the average patient; the cancer is most common in children under the age of 15. Yet, despite the news, Tom said, “Let’s get’er done.” His life had already handed him many challenges. He and his wife, Bev, were ready to fight one more cancer.
Opposite: Tom and Bev Evans in their Genesee home. Above: Over the years, the couple has been able to combine their love of hunting and travel on several international hunting trips to Zambia, Tanzania, South Africa, and Argentina.
Then in early 2012 Tom noticed a spot on his nose. Cancer again. Since he’d spent so many years in the Colorado sun he wasn’t surprised by the diagnosis. More surgery would be needed. This time he’d have reconstructive surgery, essentially sculpting a new nose on his face. As the caregiver, Bev recalls this time as beyond trying.
EVERY TIME HE HAS BEEN DIAGNOSED WITH CANCER, I JUST SAY ‘NO, NO, HE’S GOT MANY MORE YEARS TO LIVE.’ —BEV EVANS “He was quite the sight to see,” Bev recalls. “The nose wasn’t a big deal,” Tom chimes in. “Oh no, it was a big deal,” she says. “It wasn’t easy.” Having survived a third cancer, Tom and Bev thought they were in the clear. Tom was feeling and looking great. A few months later, however, they received the ALL diagnosis. Doctors thought Tom’s ALL could have been due to all his previous cancer treatments. “It’s hard,” Bev says. “Every time he has been diagnosed with cancer, I just say ‘no, no, he’s got many more years to live.’ This one has been very tough. I didn’t think we could make it through.”
13 C3: WINTER 2013